Room For System

ABSTRACT

A beverage cup having a measuring cavity and inverted indicia denoting a volume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured down from the top of the measuring cavity. Said indicia is placed inside, outside, or both inside and outside the measuring cavity. Said indicia may denote a plurality of different types of volume measurements and may denote a plurality of different volumes for each one of said different type of volume measurements. Said indicia may be printed, embossed, or both, on an insulating sleeve configured for beverage cups without said indicia. Said indicia may be printed with pigment-based inks, dye-based inks, or with temperature sensitive inks. Said insulating sleeve may also function as base for said beverage cup when rotated.

BACKGROUND

Water connects the physical and living environment. Fresh water iscritical for economic and agricultural development. Unlike many othernatural resources, society cannot exist without access to fresh watersupplies. One of the fundamental challenges humanity currently faces ispreservation of a fresh water supply. With ever increasing human demandand fluctuating precipitation due to climate change, corporations,consumers, and governing bodies must work together to reintegrate waterinto our culture. Ensuring a reliable water supply for personalconsumption, agriculture, and industry may be the most significant issueof our time.

Today, ⅕ of the world's population is without access to safe drinkingwater. Regions with access are experiencing extreme drought levels,which has forced their governments to implement strict water rationingprotocols. Yet, every day millions of people waste more water per daythan some people can access all year.

Every year the coffee industry wastes billions of a gallons of water,coffee, electricity, and other resources, because coffee drinkers makeroom for cream. The Room For system eliminates the waste associated with“making room for cream” by giving customers a simple and intuitivesystem for indicating exactly how much room they need.

Coffee production has an voracious appetite for water and other naturalresources. In fact, it takes about 2500 gallons of water to grow andprocess a single pound of coffee beans. In other words, it takes 1000ounces of fresh water for each ounce of coffee.

Unfortunately very few coffee drinkers actually know just how much waterand energy is wasted when they pour a few ounces of hot coffee in thegarbage when they make room for milk or cream. Retailers have knownabout the problem for many years, yet there is still no solution. TheRoom For system specifically address this problem by eliminating theneed for coffee drinkers to make room for cream. This uniquely Americanhabit wastes billions of gallons of fresh water, coffee, electricity,fuel, time, and other natural resources.

Most coffee retailers ignore the problem because the waste seemsinsignificant, while others address it by under-pouring every cup. Ineither case, the retail coffee experience is compromised.

Until now, there has been no solution to the problem, and it costssmall- to medium-sized coffee shops thousands of dollars every year;while large coffee retailers, simply let their customer dump millions ofdollars worth of coffee down the drain.

Ordering

Customers need only say, “may I have a large coffee with room for 2?”This lets the employees know exactly when to stop dispensing coffee,thus the need for customers to make room is eliminated. Furthermore, theretailer saves 2 ounces of coffee, which can be dispensed to the nextcustomer in line.

SUMMARY

Beverage cups having a measuring cavity and inverted indicia denoting avolume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured downfrom the top of the measuring cavity allow customers to express exactlyhow much room should be left for milk, cream, or other liquids added toenhanced the flavor of beverages. Said indicia provides a simple andeffective method for customers to indicate precisely the level at whicha barista should should stop filling the cup. This configurationeliminates the need for customers to pour a portion of their beverageinto a waste receptacle or drain in order to make room for milk orcream. The system can be easily adopted by coffee retailers, with littleto no integration costs. Said indicia may be printed, embossed, or both,on any beverage container or insulating sleeve. This simple solution cansignificantly improve the customer experience, increase yields, and savewater and energy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a beverage cup and inverted indicia inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of thebeverage cup and inverted indicia;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of thebeverage cup and inverted indicia;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of thebeverage cup and inverted indicia;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of still anotherembodiment of the beverage cup and sleeve and inverted indicia;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of still anotherembodiment of the cup and sleeve and inverted indicia printed on anadhesive sticker;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of still anotherembodiment of the beverage cup and sleeve and inverted indicia;

FIG. 8 is a another perspective view of a preferred embodiment of thebeverage cup cup and inverted indicia;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While particular preferred and alternative embodiments of the presentintention have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that many variousmodifications and extensions of the above described beverage cup may beimplemented using the teaching of this invention. All such modificationsand extensions are intended to be included within the true spirit andscope of the appended claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 1, inverted indica 2, and liquid 3combination is shown in an perspective view. The cup 1 body is formedfrom a substantially non-transparent material. The inverted indicia 2 isoutside the cup 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 4, inverted indica 4 and 7, and liquid 6combination is shown in an perspective view. The cup 4 body is formedfrom a substantially non-transparent material. The inverted indicia 5 isoutside the cup 1. An additional inverted indicia 7 is outside the cup4.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 8, inverted indica 9, and liquid 11combination is shown in an perspective view. The cup 8 body is formedfrom a substantially transparent material. The inverted indicia 9 isoutside the cup 8. The inverted indicia 10 will be reversed when viewedfrom inside the cup 8.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 12, inverted indica 14, and liquid 15combination is shown in an perspective view. The cup 12 body is formedfrom a substantially non-transparent material. The inverted indicia 14is outside the cup 12. The inverted indica 14 is printed withtemperature sensitive ink. The dark portion of said inverted indica 13changes color when a liquid 15 fills the cup 12 to the 3rd position.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cup, insulating sleeve, and inverted indiciacombination accordance with the invention. The cup 16, insulating sleeve18, inverted indica 17, and liquid 19 combination is shown in anperspective view. The inverted indicia 17 is printed outside theinsulating sleeve 18.

FIG. 6 illustrates a cup, adhesive sticker with inverted indiciacombination accordance with the invention. The cup 20, adhesive stickerwith inverted indicia 21, and liquid 22 is shown in an perspective view.The adhesive sticker with inverted indicia 21 is positioned on the cup20 so that the measurement coincides with volume of the cup 20.

FIG. 7 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 23, inverted indica 24, and liquid 25combination is shown in an perspective view. The inverted indicia 24stops half way down the cup 23 an is printed outside the cup 23.

FIG. 8 illustrates a cup and inverted indicia combination accordancewith the invention. The cup 26, inverted indica 27, inverted indicia 29,and liquid 28 combination is shown in an perspective view. The cup 26body is formed from a substantially non-transparent material. Theinverted indicia 27 is outside the cup 26. The inverted indicia 29 isprinted inside the cup. Invered indicia 27 and inverted indicia 29 stophalf way down the cup 26.

1. A beverage cup, comprising: a cup body having a measuring cavity; and inverted indicia denoting a volume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured down from the top of the measuring cavity.
 2. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is outside the measuring cavity.
 3. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein: said indicia denotes a plurality of different types of volume measurements; and said indicia denotes a plurality of different volumes for each one of said different type of volume measurements.
 4. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is inside the measuring cavity.
 5. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is inside and outside the measuring cavity.
 6. The beverage cup of claim 2 wherein the cup body is formed from a substantially non-transparent material.
 7. The beverage cup of claim 4 wherein said cup is formed from a substantially transparent material.
 8. The beverage cup of claim 2 wherein said indicia is printed with color sensitive ink.
 9. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is embossed.
 10. The beverage cup of claim 1 where in said indicia is embossed and printed.
 11. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein the cup body is formed from a biodegradable material.
 12. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is printed on an insulating sleeve.
 13. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said insulating sleeve functions as a base for said cup when inverted. 